wrestlinghttps://www.liberty.edu/champion
Liberty ChampionWed, 21 Feb 2018 20:10:40 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.3https://www.liberty.edu/champion/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cropped-cropped-cropped-libertychampion_logo2-2-32x32.jpgwrestlinghttps://www.liberty.edu/champion
3232Back-to-back?https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/11/back-to-back/
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/11/back-to-back/#respondTue, 17 Nov 2015 19:22:52 +0000https://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=30093National Champions look to repeat Winning a national championship is one of the most difficult roads traveled in the world of sports. There is a small list of things that are more challenging, but on the top of that list is repeating as champions. The Liberty University Club wrestling team won its first National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) National Championship [...]

Winning a national championship is one of the most difficult roads traveled in the world of sports. There is a small list of things that are more challenging, but on the top of that list is repeating as champions.

Victorious — Flames wrestling. Photo credit: Jessie Rogers

The Liberty University Club wrestling team won its first National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) National Championship March 12, 2015. The team had finished third-place as a team twice and was the runner-up in 2014, according to Club Sports.

“We had the talent last year to the point where if we didn’t win a national championship I should have been fired,” Head Coach Jesse Castro said. “When you prepare for a championship for 12 months, to be able to reap the rewards of hard labor is always rewarding.”

The Flames had two wrestlers bring home the individual state titles for their weight class in 2015. Ryan Diehl captured his second straight NCWA national championship in the 141-pound class and was named “Most Outstanding Wrestler” after picking up a decision (11-1) win in the finals per NCWA. Josh Llopez also won an individual national championship in the 174-pound class for the Flames. Nine of the 17 wrestlers the Flames brought to the tournament achieved All-American status, per Club Sports.

The Flames have their work cut out for them because both Diehl and Llopez are no longer on the team. Diehl transferred up to a higher division program joining the Big Ten’s Maryland Terrapins, according to the University of Maryland athletics website.

“We’re working with a very young team this year,” Castro said. “We’re rebuilding, (2015) was rewarding but we see the reality behind what we’re dealing with now.”

There are currently 13 freshman on the Flames roster and seven sophomores which means over half of the roster have a year or less of experience wrestling at the college level.

“There is a winning mindset here,” Castro said. “The legacy that a team (leaves) says a lot. It tells the team that follows them that it can be done. Hard work pays off and it can be done. We’ve been here before.”

Castro emphasized to the young wrestlers on the team to take advantage of the legacy last year’s team left. Confidence is one of the most important things he wants the team to have. Going into every dual or invitational all the teams are going to give the Flames their best because they are champions. Castro and his coaching staff want to make the team excited for that.

]]>https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/11/back-to-back/feed/0Flames on tophttps://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/02/flames-on-top/
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/02/flames-on-top/#respondTue, 03 Feb 2015 17:01:07 +0000https://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=27647Men’s wrestling wins NCWA National Duals Championship The Liberty men’s wrestling team recently won its second NCWA National Duals Championship in the last four years Jan. 23-24. However, the journey is not yet over for the Flames. The Liberty Flames went to Dalton, Georgia, and left as champions. In all of their duals, only Central Florida came close to beating [...]

The Liberty Flames went to Dalton, Georgia, and left as champions. In all of their duals, only Central Florida came close to beating them, and they would have if Liberty senior Josh Pelletier had not managed to get back up after his knee buckled in the final match of the dual.

“I have a lot of confidence in my heavyweight, Josh,” Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro said. “I was a little nervous because he had an injury. He went out there initially and was going to take the guy down and then his knee buckled. I didn’t know if he would get back up and finish the match. To see him beat the kid was amazing.”

Liberty ended up winning that match on a decision and won the dual by eight points. That win put the Flames in the final against The Apprentice School, where they only lost two of the 11 matches in the dual and won by 28 points.

“Wrestling is all about matchups and we have more of a dominant team than (our opponents) do,” Castro said. “We got in their head when we beat them two weeks before (in the Virginia Duals).”

When it was all said and done, Liberty outscored its competition 484-68 during the two-day National Duals.

“Who doesn’t like winning? It was an exciting weekend for us,” Castro said. “We were the No. 1 seed going in, but with different situations there was always that question whether we could put it together when we weren’t really loaded yet.”

Ryan Diehl, the reigning NCWA wrestler of the year, is the de facto leader of the team, according to Castro. But he does not take any of the credit for the team’s success.

“I couldn’t be there without my teammates,” Diehl said. “They are the ones that are pushing me. It’s not me doing everything by myself. Our team is really crazy if we have everyone healthy.

It’s dangerous.”

Castro said the team will be working hard to prepare for the Grand National Championship in March by doing tough but short workouts in order to keep the team fit. Castro and his coaching staff plan to ready the team the best way they possibly can by operating on the fine line of getting ready not just physically, but mentally as well.

“It’s too late to feel bad,” Castro said. “Obviously we want to nurture them (to be) healthy, but when push comes to shove, there is no choice. You’re going to compete with one arm if you have to.”

Castro said he is proud of the guys on his team for investing in each other, especially the young guys.

“It’s one thing to have a successful team because teams come and go, but a program has longevity to it,” Castro said. “You can have the best athletes in the world, but in order to sustain that after those athletes are gone, you have to develop a tradition and a mindset that carries over year to year.”

Castro and Diehl spoke for the entire team when they said what a privilege it was for them to be honored in front of the university at Convocation this past week. Diehl said it felt “like (we) did something really special,” and that they are ready to bring the “big old trophy” home from Texas.

“We are one of the schools best-kept secrets,” Castro said. “It has been neat that the school has recognized us the way they have. We want to make (the students) aware that they do have a wrestling team that’s competing for them. There are a lot of people that don’t even know about us, … but we want to make them aware.”

]]>https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/02/flames-on-top/feed/0Wrestlers compete in Jacob Challengehttps://www.liberty.edu/champion/2013/09/wrestlers-compete-in-jacob-challenge/
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2013/09/wrestlers-compete-in-jacob-challenge/#respondTue, 24 Sep 2013 18:54:39 +0000http://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=22857Liberty athletes participated in the 24-hour training event to raise money for traveling expenses and gear The Bible tells a story of a young man confronted in the middle of the night by an unknown traveler. Locking hands in head-to-head combat, the young man fought valiantly against the traveler until the break of dawn. This is the story of Jacob, [...]

]]>Liberty athletes participated in the 24-hour training event to raise money for traveling expenses and gear

The Bible tells a story of a young man confronted in the middle of the night by an unknown traveler. Locking hands in head-to-head combat, the young man fought valiantly against the traveler until the break of dawn.

Power — Liberty wrestlers were no longer seen as Jacobs — “Graspers of Heels” — after the 24-hour training. Photo provided

This is the story of Jacob, “The Grasper of Heels,” who fought with God and became blessed with new life.

Forty young men gathered Friday, Sept. 20 in the wrestling room located near the south end zone of Williams Stadium to test their will in a 24-hour training event called the “Jacob Challenge.”

“The Jacob Challenge was both a team bonding experience and fundraiser designed to test the team both mentally and physically,” Liberty University Assistant Wrestling Coach Allen Hackmann said. “The secondary goal of this event was to raise $10,000 in funds for the wrestling team’s travel expenses and gear.”

Wrestlers gradually began filling the room, not knowing what they faced.

Filled with anticipation for this long day, wrestlers walked in and began to organize their cubbies, lace their shoes, bandage their bodies and sit quietly, watching as the short hand of the clock edged toward six.

“Walking in the room, I was a little bit nervous,” returning All-American and Liberty University junior Chase Boontjer said. “I just got to thinking that this was one of those unique opportunities that I could look back on and say, ‘I did that.’”

Asking these young men to extend themselves in preparation for the long season ahead, the Jacob Challenge demanded their full attention.

“My anticipation walking into the room was to work hard, be tired and get mentally tough,” returning Liberty University wrestler and junior Josh Sanders said.

As heat began to fill the room, the wrestlers gathered around the coach in preparation and prayer for the trial, asking God for guidance, safety and determination.

Hour after hour, the intensity grew, as wrestlers battled it out on the mat. The participants exhausted themselves, running the steps of William Stadium, flipping tires in the stadium and attempting to battle fatigue all night.

“These are the times you will remember,” former NCAA wrestler and Liberty University alumnus Jonathan Perkins said. “Stay persistent during these moments, because once something like the Jacob Challenge is over, you will never be able to forget it.”

With each tick of the clock, wrestler after wrestler began to feel the threat of failure. However, strengthened by their bonds to one another and their willingness to commit to the challenge, the team pushed through.

As the wrestlers reached the 23-hour mark, they began just as they started. They again laced up their shoes, bandaged their bodies and sat silently, awaiting their final test — a 20-minute grind match.

“All I can ask of you guys is to push yourselves past your fatigue and take comfort in knowing upon completion of this you will have accomplished something that most men could not,” Liberty University Head Wrestling Coach Jess Castro said. “In this final hour, it is a chance to truly define yourselves and experience what it means to push through the pain.”

As the wrestler reached the mat, the final hour of the Jacob Challenge had arrived.

As the clock’s final stroke hit six, and the men journeyed outside the wrestling room, they were no longer seen as Jacobs – “Graspers of Heels,” — but Israels— “Fighters of God.”